11 Innovations in the Local Church
11 Innovations in the Local Church

Author: Elmer L. Towns

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2007-06-05

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 1441267387

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Join three seasoned church-ministry experts on an insider's tour of the most innovative churches today! Discover a dozen types of innovation, each with profiles of congregations that have implemented that innovation. This is more than a show-and-tell tour, however. Each chapter offers a solid take-away for church leaders on how to learn and apply the appropriate innovation profiled. The authors also offer scripturally based assessments of both the positive and negatives implications of implementing each innovation, providing guidance and wisdom. There are many ways to present the gospel, and this timely book will serve as a springboard for church leaders scratching their heads and asking themselves, "What should we do next?" By learning from a dozen different church types, church leaders can become more intentional about exploring new directions and reaching more of the world for Christ.

Spin-Off Churches
Spin-Off Churches

Author: Rodney Harrison

Publisher: B&H Publishing Group

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 0805446850

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Veteran missional church planters present a much needed how-to resource for churches desiring to sponsor the planting of other new churches locally and globally.

Emptiness
Emptiness

Author: John Corrigan

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2015-05-27

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 022623763X

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For many Christians in America, becoming filled with Christ first requires being empty of themselves—a quality often overlooked in religious histories. In Emptiness, John Corrigan highlights for the first time the various ways that American Christianity has systematically promoted the cultivation of this feeling. Corrigan examines different kinds of emptiness essential to American Christianity, such as the emptiness of deep longing, the emptying of the body through fasting or weeping, the emptiness of the wilderness, and the emptiness of historical time itself. He argues, furthermore, that emptiness is closely connected to the ways Christian groups differentiate themselves: many groups foster a sense of belonging not through affirmation, but rather avowal of what they and their doctrines are not. Through emptiness, American Christians are able to assert their identities as members of a religious community. Drawing much-needed attention to a crucial aspect of American Christianity, Emptiness expands our understanding of historical and contemporary Christian practices.

Tarry There!
Tarry There!

Author: Cleveland Taylor

Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

Published: 2020-07-21

Total Pages: 65

ISBN-13: 1098012305

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Spiritual endowment for today's believer is possible. This possibility is studied and compared to that of the early church fathers. This journey to the reception of Holy Spirit enduement of the early Pentecostal forefather was not short and instantaneous. There is a waiting period that is observed and reported. This book revisits the biblical significance of tarry's treatment in Luke 24:49. The key principle of waiting on the timing of God's provision of "power" was commanded. The promised enduement is necessary to accomplish the job description God has given all Christians. The reader will observe the results of a tarry presented to encounter the Holy Spirit experience. The word for power that Luke uses in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:8 reference "that ability to do work." Acts 1:4 placed emphases on them not leaving Jerusalem without the promise. The potential value of this topic is in its impact on the reader's personal life. The project conducts a hundred surveys, interviews, and research of historical tarry data. The successful tarry, as Luke presents it, will yield an authentic encounter with the promised Holy Spirit, and the production of guidelines for Christian mentors to tarry for endowment.

Assessing Cultural Influences in Worship
Assessing Cultural Influences in Worship

Author: Dr. Timothy D. Price III

Publisher: WestBow Press

Published: 2020-10-08

Total Pages: 142

ISBN-13: 1664203877

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There are emerging cultures and generations at war between traditional and contemporary styles of worship. Cultural change is present in society, but the circumstances of change differ from generation to generation. In 2020, COVID 19, a world pandemic shut down places of worship. However, pre-pandemic, many churches had been struggling trying to find their DNA in an evolving society with culture changes. COVID-19 has infected and exposed areas of failure in the church. Some may have found their way, yet others have been left behind and are on life support. Leadership of the church must find innovative ways so that the needs of multi generations will be met upon reentry in worship. Dr. Timothy D. Price, III provides the answer for the tension, anxiety, conflict, and concern that many Christian churches face today. This book provides an in depth project journey that offers life-changing applications to help a local church find their individual path in worship. This project is the culmination of his Doctoral work that will take all who read through a transformational journey in the life of a church and her community. It provides life-giving jewels for leaders who need help reviving their church that is on life support.

MultiChurch
MultiChurch

Author: Brad House

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2017-09-12

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0310530547

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Is it time for your church to go multisite? How do you know if it's the right solution for your congregation? MultiChurch brings clarity to the multisite movement and assembles the lessons it has learned over the past 15 years. Combining insights from multisite church pastor Brad House and Christian theology professor Gregg Allison, this book will help anyone interested in multiplying gospel-centered churches to effectively evaluate and develop the best multisite model for their own church context. In MultiChurch, you will: Explore the opportunities presented by the various forms of multi-site church. Identify areas of concern while addressing criticisms against multisite models. Understand how multisite is not only a biblically sound ecclesiological model, but also a model that provides a compelling solution to contemporary reductionism in the church. This theological, philosophical, and practical guide traces the history of the multisite movement and assembles the lessons—the good, the bad, and the ugly—learned over the past two decades.

Multisite Churches
Multisite Churches

Author: Dustin L. Slaton

Publisher: Kregel Ministry

Published: 2024-02-13

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0825471338

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The multisite church model has been consistently challenged by those who deem it unbiblical and incompatible with God's design for the local church, but does Scripture support this claim? In Multisite Churches, pastor and church vitalist Dustin Slaton posits that congregational polity is compatible with the multisite model, dismantling critiques with both urgency and care for the local church's future. At a time when church fostering and church adoption are predicted to increase significantly, the multisite church model is a solution that can support the adoption of churches. Bringing in personal experience and erudite research, Slaton heuristically demonstrates a methodological approach of ecclesiology with a theological framework for the multisite model, fairly addressing both critics and supporters. Multisite Churches is a resource for biblical ecclesiology with wide-ranging benefits for both clergy and congregant. Those prayerfully discerning whether they can transition to a multisite church in a biblical way and those who are interested in the topic will benefit from the guidance and insight provided in this timely resource.

Church Transfusion
Church Transfusion

Author: Neil Cole

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2012-09-19

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 1118131282

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Just as our life is in our blood, the life for Christ’s body is in His blood. Changing a church is more than a new goal or direction. Our churches need more than an organizational transition; we need a full transfusion of Jesus' blood, His life, within every disciple. Anything less than that will only perpetuate more of the dysfunction and unhealthy church practices that have already plagued us for too long. We are in desperate need of the internally transforming power of the gospel of grace and the presence of Christ so that our salvation is then worked out in a way the rest of the world will notice. It isn’t enough that we believe in the facts contained in the gospel, we must allow the gospel itself to infect our souls and transform us from within. The DNA of Jesus' lifeblood is needed in our churches and nothing shy of a full transfusion that touches every cell will be sufficient. In this book Neil Cole (author of Organic Church, Church Transfusion and Journeys to Significance) and Phil Helfer, co-founders of Church Multiplication Associates, will first point out that change is possible with God, but only with God. In the second half of the book they will lay out some of the actual practical considerations to weigh if you want to release real organic health in your church. Using multiple examples of very different kinds of churches that have been through the process, the authors present ways that leadership and practices need to change in order to release organic church movements from their midst. Chapters cover: Leadershifts necessary Detoxification from dependence issues. How to ignite change virally. How to grandparent movements. How to measure success in movements. This book (another in the Leadership Network series) applies organic life principles to established churches with practical help that is holistic and natural. The content in this book will be helpful whether you are pastor of an established church or wanting to revitalize a small organic church. Jesus didn’t die and rise from the dead so that we can be like everyone else in the world. Our faith is more than just a better doctrine or a bigger goal with a capital giving campaign; it is a better life. Jesus is the difference, and what a difference he makes...don't be satisfied with less.

Global Church Planting
Global Church Planting

Author: Craig Ott

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2010-12-01

Total Pages: 445

ISBN-13: 1441213678

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With nearly fifty years combined global church-planting experience, Craig Ott and Gene Wilson are well qualified to write a comprehensive, up-to-date guide for cross-cultural church planting. Combining substantive biblical principles and missiological understanding with practical insights, this book walks readers through the various models and development phases of church planting. Advocating methods that lead to church multiplication, the authors emphasize the role of the missionary church planter. They offer helpful reflection on current trends and provide best practices gathered from research and empirical findings around the globe. The book takes up a number of special issues not addressed in most church planting books, such as use of short-term teams, partnerships, and wise use of resources. Full of case studies and real examples from around the world, this practical text will benefit students, church planters, missionaries, and missional church readers.

Viral Churches
Viral Churches

Author: Ed Stetzer

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2010-03-18

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0470590300

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A groundbreaking guide for multiplying the impact of church plants Based on a study that was commissioned by the Leadership Network, this book reveals the best practices in church planting and uncovers the common threads among them. A much-needed resource, this book will inform, guide, and even catalyze today's many church planting leaders. The authors clearly show leaders how to plant churches that create a multiplication movement and offer inspiration for them to do so. The book addresses their questions about what to do next in their church planting strategies, in light of research on what's actually working best. Author Ed Stetzer heads up LifeWay Research Provides reliable, credible information about what church planting strategies work best A volume in the Leadership Network Series Offers a definitive guide for church planting and the burgeoning movement it is part of.